Ok I gotta admit, the first 14 episodes of this were great. I loved where it was going. Dying in the game would make you die in real life? Awesome. Can't log out so now you're screaming for mummy and daddy? Awesome. Evil mastermind who just trapped people in this game for the lulz? Awesome. Oh and before you continue reading, I'm gonna warn you that there are spoilers.

Even though the whole plot of the first 14 episodes weren't as solid, it was enjoyable to watch how Kirito progressed throughout the 2 years. I couldn't get enough of it. But after episode 15, it didn't feel like I was enjoying the anime as much. Because when Kirito was introduced to a new game, I knew that he could log out, could not die in real life if he dies in the game and that he isn't going to be considered as a beater anymore. We have a creepy new villain who wants to marry and have sex with Miss Asuna-chan in her sleep. Yeah...that is so creepy. And we have some incest going on between Kazuto(Kirito) and his sister. I don't like incest. Putting these flaws all together just didn't make the anime seem enjoyable anymore or even suspenseful. After episode 14 I did not like where it was going or was trying to achieve.

I mean, it would be better if they would just keep the same plot. I mean they can do so much from episode 1-25 but just add some badass arcs to it. I love the suspense of a player dying. And Kirito acts really serious every time he see's someone about to die. I mean he has the right to go crazy about it. But now in whatever game he is in right now after episode 14, he still acts freakin serious about dying in the game? Dude take a chill pill, you can respawn back to the nearest town. So what if there are trolls lurking around and killing people for the lulz. Now I think this anime is getting way too cheesy.

So yeah. That's how I thought about the anime after episode 14. Not suspenseful anymore. I'm still gonna watch it until it's finished since I'm curious to what happens in the end. But the anime does not seem as enjoyable as it was anymore. It's a real shame. Sorry for the fanboys and fangirls who love this show, but I did not make this thread to intentionally piss you off. I'm just trying to prove a point.

Important Note (Edited): After watching further into the series even more, I am proud to announce that Sword Art Online is an extremely crap anime with a horribly written story. Even Twilight takes a huge dump on it. I made a review of SAO recently, so I'll show you how I felt of it.

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Sword Art Online is by far one of the worst animes I've seen in a while to the point where I'd rather watch another typical harem genre than this piece of trash. The anime started off pretty strong. I like where it was headed at first. It's about thousands of players who recently bought the game and are playing it right away, only to be trapped in there. If they die in game they die in real life. Only way to log out? Beat the game. Awesome plot! That got me excited. I thought this was going to be the best anime I'm gonna watch. Oh how wrong I was...

Story: 2

Like I said, I like where it was headed at first. Mainly for the first 3 episodes. It felt nice and fresh. But then they decided to add some side stories about Kirito-kun (or should I say, Jesus, since he's one of the most over-powered characters in the anime, I'll talk about this in the character section) meeting new players and just being a total badass *sarcasm* when dealing with troublemakers. Right after episode 3, the anime just feel dull, just adding side stories justan excuse to make Kirito look so sugoiii by making all the heroines wanting his nuts. As soon as they begin to romance between Kirito and Asuna, I just wanted to barf. Why? It's because how horribly written and cheesy the dialogue is to the point where I'm just face palming the whole way through the anime.

What I really hated was the lack of common sense the writer had. Every moment of this show, you just wanted to yell about how stupid the scenes were. Asuna being able to move to save Kirito? Let's not make her use her sword and use her avatar instead, so she can die so we can feel sorry for her. Asuna had sex with Kirito? Let's just improve her tsundere personality by making her tell him not to peek up her skirt after that. Met a little girl? Let's play family and make her our daughter! Kirito dies? Lets bring him back to life from the power of love! Goddamn this show is stupid...

Oh and one more thing which makes this show really bad. Since the writer has no creative ideas cause he/she was hit hard on the head as soon as he/she was born, we were never told why Kayaba was evil enough to trap players in the game. That was by far one of the most stupid villains to ever exist. Oh wait, I forgot. The second villain was more bland, worst and unbearably stupid. Not to mention cliche.

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Art: 7

The art of the show was well done. It represents modern day anime art. To be honest, I have a weak spot with anime with good art.

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Sound: 10

Yup, that's my only favorite thing of the show. The music is really great and engaging. It gives my ears an orgasm everytime I see a fight scene. It's probably the only thing that keeps me watching the show other than the amusement I get from laughing about how bad the story is.

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Characters: 1

By far one of the worst cast ever to be placed in an anime show. Kirito represents a Gary Stu character. What I mean by this is that he is perfect in anything. The writer of the novel wanted us to think he's a total badass and make the female anime fans make him their dream prince. Pfffthahaha! Kirito is a freakin joke.

Asuna is a bad female heroine with a brain as big as Homer Simpson's. Her lack of common sense makes me want to claw my eyes out. The crap she says to Kirito is so stupid and cheesy. "If I were let you go and you don't come back...I'll kill myself!" Pfffthahaha, seriously? She doesn't even know this guy in real life and yet she's thinking that he's her everything.

The other heroines were just bland and typical harem characters. They all want the protagonist to be their prince and suck his...enough said.

One more thing. The villains. There is no good reason to why they are doing "evil" things other than for their satisfaction. Kayaba is retarded. He just traps everyone in the game and gives Kirito a chance to save everyone. "I forgot why I even started doing this." *Ahem* Translation Kayaba, you didn't forget. You just had no reason to do it whatsoever that you're just so embarrassed to admit it.

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Enjoyment: 4

Giving 2 points on some of the good fight scenes on this anime. Giving it another point for the first 3 episodes. And giving it one more point for how horrible written this show is that it amuses me greatly.

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Overall: 2

This show filled with cliche scenes with idiotic characters. Horribly written and planned. I don't recommend it to my friends at all. Since half of them would hate it to the point where I would be shot to death for recommending it to them. And the other half would suck me off as a reward for recommending them a show which they think is "good".

Conclusion? Don't watch this unless you have horrible taste in anime.

Oh and a shout out for AHTL for helping people realize that this anime is way too overrated. I actually knew some of this but I actually couldn't be stuffed typing it down. So thanks. I'll put what you said in this spoiler button.

Sorry, but if anyone is having high expectations from this show - you should try to look at it differently. Thinking highly of this show is akin to being delusional.

Lets face the facts:

Kirito is Gary Stue.

For those that don't know what a Gary Stue is, it's the male version of a Mary Sue.

A fictional character, usually female, whose implausible talents and likeableness weaken the story.

Every time he has been struggling in a battle, he has called upon his Gary Stue powers to win the fight.

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Remember the last fight in the SAO MMO? That's the perfect example of Gary Stue being Gary Stue. This happened in an MMO, It doesn't matter what kind of excuses you can think of to defend the awful development in that fight. With the way Kirito fought and consequently gave up; he should have lost. But praise the Gary Stue powers, suddenly he found hidden strength in the despair of his loved one being dead and SOMEHOW managed to power-up despite being realistically dead in the mmo (Yes he was, his Health Bar was gone when he "defeated" the bad guy).

Every female character in this show who has been given a name, has fallen in love with Kirito.
No seriously, the only way to avoid falling in love with Kirito if you are a female character is to never tell your name.

The "Beater/Cheater" haters. Absolutely moronic to a degree that can't even be explained because it was so stupid.
Why the hell would you have a freaking witch-hunt against the VERY PEOPLE WHO COULD SAVE YOU FROM THE MMO??

Deus Ex Machina. Kirito gets paralysed and just as he is about to die; 'LO AND BEHOLD THERE IS ASUNA!
Just in time to rescue him from an untimely death! Phew! What a coincident!

Kirito picks the WEAKEST race, gets told illusions are useless, somehow managed to become one of the bosses from the SAO MMO and BITES A PLAYER.
Lets look at the facts again. ILLUSION. Not transformation or anything similar. ILLUSION. You shouldn't be able to hurt anyone like Kirito did with an illusion. But it's okay! Because he is Gary Stue! Therefore his spells breaks the game.

Kirito beats a highly skilled player in ALO.

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

There is nothing wrong with that. Except for one detail. That player was wearing the best gear you could obtain the game so far, and Kirito was wearing VENDOR TRASH. But it's okay, thanks to his Gary Stue powers and by stealing his cousin's weapon, he powered up 1000x times and owned everyone.

Lets not forget that the creator of this show is trying to pander to every fanservice group there is.
Big boobs? Check. Loli? Check. Implied incest brother/sister love? Check (I know they are cousins, Kirito doesn't and before it was revealed nobody else did). TENTACLE RAPE? Check. Boring characters with little to no personality? Check. Make it easy for fans to self-insert into the characters? Check.

Every female character in this game apparently can't handle their own troubles. But it's okay, because Kirito is ready to save the day for the HELPLESS WOMEN.

Asuna was helpless against pressure. Asuna loves cooking (hurf durf women kitchen sandwich), she is apparently *perfect*, she is submissive towards Kirito almost all the time. Oh and lets not forget:

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

I like Asuna's parents. Because they are just doing what's best for their daughter! Marrying her off to a man who is twice as old and they don't even know if she approves of it or not! Or if she loves anyone else. After all, family doesn't matter - money does. Oh and a stupid plot.

Anyway, enough about the SAO MMO.

The new bad guy in the ALO arc is the blandest shittiest bad guy ever.

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

He has zero depth to his personality. It's just "haha I'm super evil! I will torment these players and get valuable mind control data, and get super rich! And I'll steal this woman from you because I can! Oh, and I might brain-wash her, because I can. There is no real motive behind. Just because I'm evil. You know. Evil. That's why. Evil and CREATING A FALSE IMPENDING DOOM OF NTR - Oh what was that about pandering to every fetish and whatnot? Yeahh......

Sorry, but the light novels are hardly better.

This show had tons of potential, but it squandered most of it because it wanted to pander to the audience sexual desires. And I'm getting tired of the SO ANGSTY Kirito. Mostly I'm just tired of him being Gary Stue.

Oh and did I mention that Kirito is an MMO addict? Because he is. Just re-watch that scene where the bartender dude shows him the ALO game. He was clearly more focused on the game itself and keen on playing it, and than rescuing Asuna - till the bartende dude just coughed to break the MMO-addiction-spell. Kirito's "flawless never back down" moral compass gets tedious as well.

At the end of the day, I only watch this show to laugh at how bad it is.

Ok I gotta admit, the first 14 episodes of this were great. I loved where it was going. Dying in the game would make you die in real life? Awesome. Can't log out so now you're screaming for mummy and daddy? Awesome. Evil mastermind who just trapped people in this game for the lulz? Awesome. Oh and before you continue reading, I'm gonna warn you that there are spoilers.

Even though the whole plot of the first 14 episodes weren't as solid, it was enjoyable to watch how Kirito progressed throughout the 2 years. I couldn't get enough of it. But after episode 15, it didn't feel like I was enjoying the anime as much. Because when Kirito was introduced to a new game, I knew that he could log out, could not die in real life if he dies in the game and that he isn't going to be considered as a beater anymore. We have a creepy new villain who wants to marry and have sex with Miss Asuna-chan in her sleep. Yeah...that is so creepy. And we have some incest going on between Kazuto(Kirito) and his sister. I don't like incest. Putting these flaws all together just didn't make the anime seem enjoyable anymore or even suspenseful. After episode 14 I did not like where it was going or was trying to achieve.

I mean, it would be better if they would just keep the same plot. I mean they can do so much from episode 1-25 but just add some badass arcs to it. I love the suspense of a player dying. And Kirito acts really serious every time he see's someone about to die. I mean he has the right to go crazy about it. But now in whatever game he is in right now after episode 14, he still acts freakin serious about dying in the game? Dude take a chill pill, you can respawn back to the nearest town. So what if there are trolls lurking around and killing people for the lulz. Now I think this anime is getting way too cheesy.

So yeah. That's how I thought about the anime after episode 14. Not suspenseful anymore. I'm still gonna watch it until it's finished since I'm curious to what happens in the end. But the anime does not seem as enjoyable as it was anymore. It's a real shame. Sorry for the fanboys and fangirls who love this show, but I did not make this thread to intentionally piss you off. I'm just trying to prove a point.

For what I have in mind is that they should have separated Sword Art from Alfheim - like two seasons or if they'll plan to continue this series up to Underworld. Calling the anime SAO while they are playing a different game in the story is a bit weird. I think you're thinking of it still as Sword Art, but it's not. The story may be improved or be degraded to the point of view of some. I would not tell you to drop this anime. But hey, try continuing to watch it for a few more episodes. Maybe they'll get your interest back in .

I'm not a die hard fan of SAO, I'm just an anime enthusiast and watches other anime (NOT Naruto or One Piece) alongside this series .

Ok I gotta admit, the first 14 episodes of this were great. I loved where it was going. Dying in the game would make you die in real life? Awesome. Can't log out so now you're screaming for mummy and daddy? Awesome. Evil mastermind who just trapped people in this game for the lulz? Awesome. Oh and before you continue reading, I'm gonna warn you that there are spoilers.

Even though the whole plot of the first 14 episodes weren't as solid, it was enjoyable to watch how Kirito progressed throughout the 2 years. I couldn't get enough of it. But after episode 15, it didn't feel like I was enjoying the anime as much. Because when Kirito was introduced to a new game, I knew that he could log out, could not die in real life if he dies in the game and that he isn't going to be considered as a beater anymore. We have a creepy new villain who wants to marry and have sex with Miss Asuna-chan in her sleep. Yeah...that is so creepy. And we have some incest going on between Kazuto(Kirito) and his sister. I don't like incest. Putting these flaws all together just didn't make the anime seem enjoyable anymore or even suspenseful. After episode 14 I did not like where it was going or was trying to achieve.

I mean, it would be better if they would just keep the same plot. I mean they can do so much from episode 1-25 but just add some badass arcs to it. I love the suspense of a player dying. And Kirito acts really serious every time he see's someone about to die. I mean he has the right to go crazy about it. But now in whatever game he is in right now after episode 14, he still acts freakin serious about dying in the game? Dude take a chill pill, you can respawn back to the nearest town. So what if there are trolls lurking around and killing people for the lulz. Now I think this anime is getting way too cheesy.

So yeah. That's how I thought about the anime after episode 14. Not suspenseful anymore. I'm still gonna watch it until it's finished since I'm curious to what happens in the end. But the anime does not seem as enjoyable as it was anymore. It's a real shame. Sorry for the fanboys and fangirls who love this show, but I did not make this thread to intentionally piss you off. I'm just trying to prove a point.

For what I have in mind is that they should have separated Sword Art from Alfheim - like two seasons or if they'll plan to continue this series up to Underworld. Calling the anime SAO while they are playing a different game in the story is a bit weird. I think you're thinking of it still as Sword Art, but it's not. The story may be improved or be degraded to the point of view of some. I would not tell you to drop this anime. But hey, try continuing to watch it for a few more episodes. Maybe they'll get your interest back in .

I'm not a die hard fan of SAO, I'm just an anime enthusiast and watches other anime (NOT Naruto or One Piece) alongside this series .

You don't have to state your don't watch Naruto or One Piece, that was unnecessary. No offense. To the OP, it's Kazuto and his cousin, Suguha, not his sister. I wouldn't call it incest because a) no sex between them b) Kazuto is so in love with Asuna that there is no doubt in the whole time space continuum that Suguha has any chance to pair with her cousin and she knows this. You're basing the rest of the plot on these 'flaws' which aren't flaws at all just new elements to try and enhance the plot (I also won't bother explaining them because that's one of the internet is there for). They don't have enough content to make it just about Sword Art Online because of the original author's choices. You don't like incest so you're shunning part of the story for it and he's so serious about not dying because he doesn't want to respawn back to Point A and waste time in saving Asuna. Granted, it's not the best story and it's certainly not my favorite but it's doing well for itself so far. Like DomoKevin said, the story may have improved or degraded in the eyes of some viewers but some people don't realize it isn't just about Sword Art Online anymore. I don't think it ever was really. I could keep going, but it's not worth my time or yours (plus anyone else's reading this). Anyway, if you want a series that is all about trying to survive in a virtual reality death trap where you can't just simply log out is the .hack franchise.

There isn't enough source material for the anime to be a lot more than it already is. And after watching Naruto for several years now I don't have a lot of faith in filler that studio's pull out of their asses anymore, so I'd just assume not see Kirito do a bunch of random crap while waiting for the plot to advance.

Most anime that's made only get a 13 episode season, and that's it. SAO got 14 excellent episodes for their first arc as a half season over the summer, and now we get to see all of ALO as well for this 25 episode run. For the most part I'm pretty happy with this adaptation.

When I watched the first episode I was like, "Oh wow, I'm going to love this series".

And then... they just focus on storylines/aspects that could have been done in a normal drama/shoujo anime. It didn't stay true to the sci-fi element or to the environment/setting the anime is set in.

As an MMO player myself, the game mechanics in the anime was too simple. Sword slashing... that was it. They didn't elaborate on how you have to figure out ways to defeat a boss... it was just slashing.

And the characters are even worse. Cliched personalities and reactions. In my review, I gave this 3 out of 5 stars anyway and that's being generous.

I never watched the anime but from reading OPs post,we are now in the Alfheim arc?
Right now,yes it doesn't seem serious anymore since it's just a game...until we get to the world tree that is.

Keep watching,you will NOT WANT to miss Kirito channeling Gutts from berserk.And hurting someone so bad it causes backlash in real life that his opponent had to take pain killers to stop feeling the pain of death all over his body.

Then we have the Phantom Bullet arc...

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

with a mysterious player killing people and making them brain dead in real life.

Then things start to get depressing in perspective once we move to the alicization arc.